Presidential spokesperson scorns NYT claim

KABUL (Pajhwok): President Hamid Karzai is not trying to derail the US-brokered agreement between the presidential candidates, his spokeswoman said on Friday.  

On Friday, the New York Times quoted an unnamed US official as saying that President Karzai was complicating matters related to the presidential ballot.

Karzai’s aversion toward Dr. Abdullah was longstanding, the newspaper said, alleging the president had been pushing Ashraf Ghani not to compromise on the political side of the deal.

But Adila Raz, the president’s deputy spokesperson, told Pajhwok Afghan News there was truth to the report. She accused the daily of running divisive stories regarding the polls.  

“Such reports by NYT are in violation of all established international journalistic ethics and have political goals,” she said, adding the newspaper had been trying to divide the Afghans.

She said: “We have already complained to the newspaper’s administration regarding its divisive coverage of the elections. But it continues to release baseless reports…”

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